''Latrodectus umbukwane,'' commonly known as the Phinda button spider, is a species of the spider in the genus ''
Latrodectus
''Latrodectus'' is a broadly distributed genus of spiders with several species that are commonly known as the true widows. This group is composed of those often loosely called black widow spiders, brown widow spiders, and similar spiders. However ...
'' described in 2019, named after the
Phinda Private Game Reserve where research specimens were collected.
, it is known only from critically endangered
sand forest environments in northern Zululand,
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...
, South Africa.
It is believed to be the largest member of its genus.
Discovery
A single female was first found in 2014 in the
Tembe Elephant Park. It was observed until its natural death two years later, when it was collected and sent to a laboratory. In 2017 a professional entomologist joined the study and a number of live specimens were collected from the Phinda reserve.
They and their offspring were studied until 2019 when it was confirmed to be a new species.
[ The first addition in 28 years to the 31 previously known button, or widow spiders in the genus ''Latrodectus'', of which eight are found in Africa.]
Description
Females have red markings on both the ventral and dorsal surfaces of the abdomen, unlike any other African ''Latrodectus'' species. They have parallel spermatheca
The spermatheca (pronounced : spermathecae ), also called ''receptaculum seminis'' (: ''receptacula seminis''), is an organ of the female reproductive tract in insects, e.g. ants, bees, some molluscs, Oligochaeta worms and certain other in ...
e and the copulatory ducts have three loops.[ The ]embolus
An embolus (; : emboli; from the Greek ἔμβολος "wedge", "plug") is an unattached mass that travels through the circulatory system, bloodstream and is capable of creating blockages. When an embolus Vascular occlusion, occludes a blood vess ...
of males has four loops and there are white markings on the ventral surface of the abdomen that darken with age.
Habitat
The species is only known to occur in the critically endangered lowland sand forest biome of northern KwaZulu-Natal. These forests are threatened by illegal clearing for farming as well as wood collection. The females build nests in trees and stumps more than 50 centimetres above ground, which is higher than most other members of the genus.[
]
References
External links
Video clip filmed in early 2019
{{taxonbar, from1=Q76516624
umbukwane
Spiders described in 2019
Spiders of South Africa
Endemic spiders of South Africa